A monthly letter from Gotham’s president, Alexander Steele (writing advice and other musings)
You may have noticed there’s been much talk, not to mention outrage, over the final episodes of Game of Thrones. There’s even a petition going around, requesting that HBO rewrite and reshoot the final season.
Moral: it’s important to give your stories a great ending; it doesn’t matter so much if it’s upbeat or tragic as long as it feels just right for that particular tale.
Continue reading “Surprising But Inevitable”
All the greats have fascinating deep cuts—Measure for Measure (Shakespeare), “First Snow in Kokomo” (Aretha), Empire of the Sun (Spielberg). So let’s discuss some things you may not know we offer.
First, big news:
A classic bit of advice in the book Elements of Style: Omit needless words.
But what constitutes needless? Ah, there’s the rub.
In Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, five lucky kids find golden tickets in their Wonka Bars, inviting them to tour Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory. Here’s a segment from the golden ticket: